September 7, 2015 - Getting Ready for Guests
Getting Ready for Guests When the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis lifted off fifteen years ago this week, ahead of them lay a housekeeping job of Space Age proportions. The main objective of STS-106 was to prepare the International Space Station for the arrival of its first permanent crew, scheduled for December. During the twelve-day mission, the crew delivered 3,000 kg (6,600 lbs) of supplies, installed batteries, a toilet, power converters, and a treadmill. During a space walk, the crew also connected power, data, and communications cables to the Zvezda Service Module. At the time of the mission, the young International Space Station consisted of just the modules shown here; from bottom: Unity (Node 1), Zarya (first module of the station), Zvezda, and a Russian Progress resupply ship.
Image credit: NASA
Weekly Calendar
September 7-13, 2015
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 7
Labor Day
1995: STS-69 Endeavour launched
Tuesday 8
1966: “Star Trek” premieres
1967: Surveyor 5 launched
2000: STS-106 Atlantis launched
2004: Genesis spacecraft crash-lands on return to Earth
Wednesday 9
1789: William Bond born
1892: E. E. Barnard discovers Amalthea
1975: Viking 2 launched
1982: Conestoga 1 launched
1994: STS-64 Discovery launched
2006: STS-115 Atlantis launched
Thursday 10
Venus 3° south of Moon
Mars 5° north of Moon
1857: James Keeler born
1967: Surveyor 5 lands on Moon
1978: Venera 11 launched
2011: GRAIL spacecraft launched
Friday 11
1877: James Jeans born
1985: International Cometary Explorer satellite probes Comet Giacobini-Zinner (first comet flyby)
1997: Mars Global Surveyor arrives at Mars
Saturday 12
1959: Luna 2 launched
1966: Gemini XI launched
1970: Luna 16 launched
1991: STS-48 Discovery launched
1992: STS-47 Endeavour launched
1993: STS-51 Discovery launched
Sunday 13
Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset
New Moon 2:41 AM ET
Partial solar eclipse (South Africa, Antarctica)
1977: Second glide test of Space Shuttle Enterprise
1978: Venera 12 launched